Some embodiments described herein relate generally to scalable resilient networks.
In some known networks, a control plane and a data plane of the networks are inextricably interrelated. Such known networks can typically support a certain data throughput on the data plane and a certain number of sessions on the control plane. As a result of the close coupling of the control plane and the data plane, each of the control plane and the data plane typically cannot scale failover independently of each other. Specifically, if one of the control plane or the data plane needs to be expanded, the other one typically has to be expanded as well even if adequate capability otherwise exists. Additionally, the failure of one of the control plane or the data plane typically requires both planes to fail over.
Accordingly, a need exists for methods and apparatus that enable a decoupled control plane and a data plane that can scale and failover independently of each other.
In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a first controller configured to be operatively coupled within a network having a set of network nodes, a forwarding gateway and a configuration entity. The first controller is configured to manage session state and node state associated with the set of network nodes independent of the forwarding gateway. The first controller is configured to fail over to a second controller when the first controller fails, without the forwarding gateway failing over and without the configuration entity failing over.